


Quiet

by Narcissisticpeacock



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: F/F, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, and chloe gets sad, but i also wrote it to cope :/, nadine gets worried, this fills a prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 07:36:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13608636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narcissisticpeacock/pseuds/Narcissisticpeacock
Summary: "You always this talkative on a job?"Nadine realizes she wants nothing more than for Chloe to keep talking.





	Quiet

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I got a prompt that was asking me to write Nadine realizing she hates when Chloe goes quiet on the job because it means she's too weak to talk. But I've had a rough weekend as my mom was back in town and I've half written a few different fics of Nadine helping Chloe emotionally when dealing with her mother. I'm just posting this to post it, really. I plan to write Chloe getting hurt at another point, but right now, I need this off my chest (and out of my WIP files!).

Nadine frowns. "I don't like it."  
  
Chloe responds with a lopsided smirk. "You don't like anything. We have this conversation on every job."  
  
Her partner bites her tongue, preferring to keep in what she wants to reply. After all, Chloe is the flirty one, the one who never knows when to stop talking. It can be irritating, more often than not. But it's all well and good-- they work well together. She's never had a partner she felt this good being around. Never had one she enjoyed being around so much. It should probably be worrying, but it's not. They haven't defined what they are, but it'll happen eventually.  
  
"Besides," Chloe continues. "We're working with Charlie. You like him, don't you?"  
  
"I don't mind him. Better than working with Drake again." She crosses her arms. "He knows where to meet us?"  
  
"Yup. We've got twenty minutes to meet him. We--" She cuts off as her phone goes off. She glances at the screen and Nadine seens her jaw clench. She takes a deep breath. "Sorry, love, I've got to take this." She steps away, into another room, and speaks in a low voice.  
  
That's when Nadine starts to worry. She won't pry, but she's never seen Chloe act like this before. So she takes her own phone out and messes around on it, but keeps an ear out for Chloe. She doesn't catch anything but the tone of the conversation. Chloe seems a bit worked up, some sort of anxious and annoyed.  
  
It's another couple of minutes later that Chloe leaves the room again. "Sorry," she repeats in a quiet voice. She's flustered, that much is obvious. But it's in a very un-Chloe like way. Her brow is the slightest bit furrowed, she seems like she's about to curl in on herself, and her fists are clenched. It's a one eighty from how she had been just five minutes ago.  
  
"It's alright," Nadine reassures. "Are you okay?"  
  
Chloe hums and does her level best to brighten up. "Absolutely fine, honey." As if to prove it, she gives Nadine a kiss on the cheek. "Let's go. We've got fifteen to get there, and I know how you hate to be late."  
  
With that, she moves off before Nadine can press her for more. 

* * *

"I dunno, mate. Seems strange." Charlie cracks the knuckles of his right hand against the flashlight in his left. "A golden mango? An apple, I understand. That's greek, yeah? But a mango? Just a big bean shaped bit of gold."  
  
"And? It's gold, Charlie. We didn't care what shape it was in."  
  
"Better to leave the job with something than empty handed," Nadine adds in. "We got enough to live off of for a few months from it."  
  
He raises an eyebrow and turns them down a side tunnel. "Money is money, I guess. Did you leave it as a mango or melt it down?"  
  
"Sold it as is. A gal I know is reliable for that sort of thing. We got a pretty penny, paid a half a year of rent in advance, and enjoyed a bit of luxury." Chloe shrugs. "Started researching the next job, though, immediately."  
  
"I insisted,"  
the ex-mercenary adds.  
  
"Not surprising, from what I've seen of you."  
Charlie has only worked with Nadine a handful of times, but they're all rather telling.  
  
Nadine shrugs and rolls her shoulders. "Are we nearly there?"  
  
He nods. "There'll be a ladder up to a space behind a wall. From there, should be child's play to get to the main section."  
  
"And the guards you mentioned?"  
  
"There's two stationed in the building. All the rest are outside," he answers, gesturing up through the ceiling above them. “They won’t be a problem-- any of them. We’ll be in the back of the place while those blokes stay up front.”

With that information, the three fall silent. Charlie’s attempts at humour fall on deaf ears-- Nadine doesn’t know him well enough and Chloe seems distracted. If anything, Chloe’s silence takes all of Nadine’s focus.

For about three seconds, its a relief. After five minutes, it starts to nag on her. After ten, she’s worried. After fifteen, she’s more than concerned.

Before she can say anything, they reach the entrance to the mansion. Nadine is the last to go up, following Chloe. They enter an enclosed space with no lighting. They’re behind the drywall, it seems.

Again, Nadine waits for some quip, some comment on their current location, but she gets nothing. Even Charlie seems surprised. But he doesn’t say anything. Nadine wants to.

They move on through the space behind the wall. Charlie leads them out a false door and into the hallway. He assures them the guards are a solid five minutes across the house, so Nadine takes the chance. She turns to Chloe and sees the woman staring at some crucifix on the wall. It doesn’t look to be worth much, so there’s no reason for her to be interested. She’s frowning too.

Nadine mirrors the frown and puts a hand on Chloe's arm. "Hey," she says quietly. "Hold up."  
  
Chloe gives her a questioning look but it shifts over to realization, followed by something Nadine doesn't recognize on her. Shame, maybe?  
  
"Charlie, scout ahead," Nadine orders. "Please," she adds as an afterthought.  
  
He opens his mouth, most likely to protest. Then he sees the look on Nadine's face and stops himself. "Alright."  
  
She and Chloe are left alone moment later. Chloe has her arms folded across her front and her back against the wall. She looks smaller than usual, staring at the ground. It's like the world is on her shoulders.  
  
Nadine wants nothing more than to share that burden.  
  
"Chloe," she mumbles.  
  
Chloe manages half a chuckle. "You know, I like when you use my first name. But you only ever do it when we're alone together."  
  
"Nobody else needs to know how much you mean to me," the woman admits. She gives Chloe a soft look. "I wanted to ask what's wrong."  
  
"Whatever do you mean?" Chloe tries.  
  
"I mean you've been quiet. Which isn't something you usually are." Nadine moves closer. She wants to reach out to Chloe, to offer to hold her, but she stops herself.  
  
Chloe doesn't respond. She's either thinking of a reply or doesn't have one at all.  
  
"Is it about the phone call you got earlier?" Nadine tries. That's what's triggered a difference in Chloe, she's certain. Chloe has been too tense since then, wound tight.  
  
After Nadine says it, there's a noticeable reaction from Chloe. She frowns deep and slides her back down the wall until she's sitting. "Yeah." Her answer is soft and scared and so completely not Chloe.  
  
Nadine crouches in front of her. "Chloe," she whispers again. "Let me help."  
  
The woman sighs and shakes her head. "I don't know. It's... a family thing."  
  
The ex-mercenary seems surprised, prepared to respond with condolences. "You-- you didn't lose someone, did you?"  
  
"Oh, god, no. It's..." She shakes her head again. "It's my mum. She's who called."  
  
Nadine keeps her expression neutral. Chloe hasn't ever talked about her mother much. She's only ever implied that her mother was less than pleasant. With the way Chloe acts, how she severs connections as often as she makes them, Nadine isn't really surprised that she had a rough childhood after her father's death.  
  
"Okay," Nadine says in a steady tone. "Tell me why this is a problem, what she said. I want to help."  
  
Chloe opens her mouth and shuts it again. Words are hard to find. When she hunts some down, she wants to cry. "I feel so stupid. Anyone would say she's a good mother-- I was fed and clothed, blah blah blah..." If she was speaking to anyone but Nadine, she wouldn't be saying this. No one but Nadine gets this information. Nadine is the only one she trusts with it. "After my father died she, she decided she was a born again Christian. I was dragged to church where old white women could frown at me and tell my mother what to do about my "attitude". And every day I did something wrong, something that didn't match with what she had in mind. It was constant put downs, every compliment came at a price, I was never... never what she wanted."  
  
Nadine kneels and reaches for Chloe's hands. She doesn't interrupt. Just listens.  
  
"Ugh. I feel so stupid," Chloe repeats. "I avoid going to visit her. I'll see her maybe once a year at most and it's always horrible. And when she called today, that's what she wanted to make plans for. I mean, couched in as much guilt tripping as she possibly could, but that was the essence of it." She watches her partner play with her hands. The touch is some sort of soothing. "And I hate it, but I'm terrified."  
  
Nadine gets fired up at this. "If she lays a hand on you--"  
  
"No, no, it's not... it's not physical," Chloe explains. "She just... it's words. Insults and whatever else. She's been doing this for years. I hated myself as a teenager. Because of her. Took a lot to get to where I was when you met me. And even more to get me to where I am with you now-- which is very much because of you, by the way." She manages to give Nadine the smallest of smiles but it drops after she thinks on what she's said. "If I'm honest... she wouldn't like you."  
  
Nadine nods. "Sounds like I won't like her either." She tries to stay close to Chloe. "I have a question. Why go if she makes you feel like this? Cut her off."  
  
Chloe frowns harder. "Because that's scarier. She's all I've got for family. I... I convince myself that it's only once a year. I can handle that. I've handled warlords, so what's one pissed off mother?" She tries to make a joke of it but it falls flat. "Nadine, it's just... I'm scared, I hate the way she makes me feel like I'm thirteen again and how I'm somehow obviously a horrible child... but she's all the family I've got. It's just... once a year."  
  
Nadine gives her a long look. Chloe feels like Nadine is going to tell her that she's ridiculous and that she should just cut the woman out of her life. It makes sense, wouldn't it?  
  
But her partner just pulls her hand up and presses a kiss to the back of it. "Alright. If it's what you want. I won't stop you." There's a brief pause. "Just let me go with you."  
  
Chloe's jaw drops. "You want to go with me?"  
  
A nod. "Ja."  
  
She's not really sure how to respond. "Nadine, darling-- she's absolutely horrible. Homophobic, transphobic, and racist. Probably more.”  
  
Nadine grins. "Then I'm perfect to bring along, aren't I? Besides, I can counter every insult she uses on you."  
  
Chloe manages a smile. "You know... she always tells me I've gained weight."  
  
"I'll say that means there's more of you to love," Nadine responds, smooth as silk.  
  
Her partner's smile grows. "And that I should "be more feminine", wear dresses and so on."  
  
Nadine smirks. "I'll say you look best in nothing so why does it matter?"  
  
Chloe laughs. "How would you know? You've yet to see me in nothing."  
  
"Keyword in that sentence is "yet"."  
  
She pulls Nadine closer. "I know we haven't really defined what we are, but... I'd like to introduce you as my girlfriend, if you're comfortable with that."  
  
"I'd be insulted if you didn't," comes the answer.  
  
Chloe presses forward the rest of the way, bringing Nadine into a tight hug. "She's going to hate this," she says happily.  
  
Nadine pulls away just enough to kiss Chloe. It's far from their first kiss, but it feels new and warm. When they part again, Nadine murmurs "Good" against Chloe's shoulder. "You deserve better than her."  
  
"I got better, darling. I got you."  
  
Nadine squeezes her tighter and Chloe can feel her blush. She makes a decision then, while wrapped in Nadine’s arms. It will be the last time she sees her mother. Losing her mother won’t leave her alone. Not anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> Again, this is really just posted to post. It's my way to cope, I guess. As of the 11th of February 2018, it'll have been one year and one month since I last spoke to my mother. May as well commemorate it.  
> It's good to take toxic people out of your life. Even if it hurts at first.


End file.
